Barty Jr and the DE's mark

[macfotuk at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 114106

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, macfotuk at y... wrote:
> Unless he was ordered to stay put at Hogwart's by LV*, why didn't 
C!
> M apparate to join his master? How come he didn't 'know' from his 
> left arm dark mark that LV had been re-embodied? he asks Harry 
> several times if LV was really back.
> 

The recent posts by Carol (114098) and Janet (114100) about Crouch's 
dark mark reappearing when the polyjuice potion wore off during 
sleep suggested another interpretation to me that better fits the 
canon:

Maybe he doesn't HAVE the dark mark.

It's always bugged me that we don't know exactly when Bellatrix, 
hubby and Barty tortured the Longbottoms. It was sufficiently long 
after GH (demise of LV) to be shocking, but months or a few years? 
Does canon say how old Neville was?

At 19 Barty Jr is just out of Hogwarts when originally involved. He 
may have admired LV from afar (anything to spite his uptight, 
unloving and obsessed father) and so made an ideal new recruit for 
the few remaining loyal DE's (all the others having been killed, 
incarcerated or gone into denial/protestations of innocence). 
Indeed, BCJr's adulation seems SO OTT it might be that he admires an 
image more than having actually met LV (who might be scarier than 
imagined!) - can't recall what canon says anywhere else, but I've 
just read veritaserum (the confession) again and it doesn't contain 
anything that would gainsay the idea of Crouch never having actually 
met Voldie physically before.

Anyways the point is that either LV wasn't around to give BCJr the 
mark or never got round to it with what was a relatively fresh 
recruit  before being taken out at GH. Thus BCJr didn't ever have, 
and may not even know about, the mark. This, if true, would 
certainly eliminate him as someone all the other DE's were used to 
seing stand in Voldie's 'inner circle'.